Parshat Bemidbar 5786 - " שאו את־ראש כל־עדת בני־ישראל"

This week we begin a new book of the Torah, ספר במדבר, starting, of course, with פרשת במדבר. We begin this פרשה with HaShem commanding Moshe to count the Jewish people, where the Torah states: “שאו את־ראש כל־עדת בני־ישראל למשפחתם לבית אבתם במספר שמות כל־זכר לגלגלתם - lift up the heads of all of the congregation of the children of Yisrael according to their families, by their father’s house, count the names of every male by their heads”. The rest of the Parsha details this poll - how only men aged 20-60 qualify, who will assist Moshe in tallying each שבט, the total amount of people per שבט, and finally the specifics of counting the לוים and their broader role within כלל ישראל. However, this command only raises questions: For what purpose was עם ישראל counted here? What is the meaning of the phrase שאו את־ראש - that their heads shall be raised? And even if it had a practical significance at the time, why is this count included in the Torah, an eternal book relevant to every generation?